Category Archives: France

Author John Baxter presents another fascinating story to add to his latest Museyon title French Riviera and Its Artists: Art, Literature, Love, and Life on the Côte d’Azur. Enjoy this special promotional chapter about the photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue! In 1962, a placid white-haired Frenchman of sixty-nine wandered into the Manhattan offices of photography agent Charles Rado. With him was a ... Read More »

John Baxter’s new book, The Golden Moments of Paris, got exciting reviews.Here’s the review by June Sawyers of the Chicago Trubune. Paris, especially the Paris between the two world wars, continues to resonate with many people around the globe. The city has had many golden ages but probably none as famous as the 1920s: the Paris of the Lost ... Read More »

With a history dating back before Julius Caesar to the Gauls, Rouen is a fascinating stop for those with time to escape Paris for a day. As the historic capital of the region of Normandy in northern France, Rouen was once one of the largest and more prosperous cities in all of Medieval Europe. It’s great 13th century cathedral is ... Read More »

Once a sleepy market town on the way to the Pyrenees resorts, since the miraculous vision of a young girl in 1858, Lourdes now attracts 5 million people each year, many of whom have come on a pilgrimage to the site in order to receive the ‘healing’ waters. Bernadette Soubirous, or Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, was born in 1844, the ... Read More »

La Boule Noire is best known for nightly bringing non-Parisian music to Paris. They have hosted early shows by Metallica, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and Interpol in it’s small 300 person venue, offering an intimate experience with either soon to be huge bands or acts that are already packing halls three times the size of Le Boule Noire in ... Read More »

A visit to Paris is not complete without a day trip to the town of Versailles. Only 10.6 miles outside of Paris, Versailles was once a bustling medieval village, a common stopping place for those on the road into the city. In 1671, the medieval town, with its narrow alleys and winding street pattern was demolished by King Louis XIV ... Read More »

Amélie, the bucolic and whimsical French film by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet was made nine years and yet continues to hold a special place in the heart of romantics and Francophiles alike. Many of the scenes from the film were shot on the streets of Paris though a fair amount of the interiors are from a studio in Cologne. ... Read More »

Last week, we went to the medieval city of Colmar, France in our guide to having a great Weekend Away and this week we take you to another medieval location, Bruges, Belgium, which all you film buffs may remember from the 2008 film In Bruges directed by Martin McDonagh. The lovely Colmar may be the wine capital of Alsace but ... Read More »